The stereotype of the air stewardess is as pervading and derogatory as those held to ridicule in a million blonde jokes. Yet these are the people who are in the front line when disaster strikes on board. Airplanes may be safer than riding in a car until a problem occurs, then it tends to be pretty damn terrifying.
We all wonder how we would react if placed in mortal danger. Luckily for the crew and passengers of Pan Am Flight 73 on 5 September 1986, Neerja Bhanot, the chief purser (stewardess in charge of the crew), showed amazing presence of mind and valiantly sacrificed her life when four terrorists hijacked the flight.
Neerja Bhanot had already shown herself to be a courageous and independent young woman after leaving an abusive marriage in the 1980s. She was born in 1962 to a loving family in Chandigarh, Punjab, India. A much longed for daughter, she was affectionately known by her family as Lado, meaning loved one.
Neerja was scouted by a photographer when she was a schoolgirl to appear as the ‘girl next door’ in a modelling shoot. She went on to become a successful model appearing in many adverts across India. To please her family, she agreed to an arranged marriage in 1985 and flew to the Gulf to live with her new husband. While there, she was subjected to hostile demands for a dowry, no access to money, verbal abuse and starved. When she returned to India for a modelling shoot, her husband sent a letter with a series of demands including cutting off contact with her family. Neerja decided to leave him, a bold move for a traditional girl, but she had the support of her family.
Soon after that decision she applied for the role of air steward with Pan Am and she was one of a small number selected from 10,000 applicants. Such a job was considered very prestigious and she was delighted to join the company. Her training may have covered service duties but security drills were and still are a priority.
So when Flight 73 landed for a stopover in Pakistan’s Jinnah International Airport in the early morning en route to Frankfurt, all the staff had been trained to deal with terrorist activity. Four armed Palestinian hijackers from the Aby Nidal Organisation boarded the plane in the guise of airport security. Led by Zayd Safarini, their mission was to fly to Cyprus and Israel and demand the release of Palestinian prisoners before blowing up the plane.
Neerja quickly realised what was happening and immediately sent a secret hijack code to the pilots enabling them to escape through a secret hatch and therefore ground the plane – an approved plan in such a situation. As chief purser she was now first in command of a critical hostage situation, and one that got increasingly worse when the hijackers realised they needed a new cabin crew. When they shot dead American Indian Rajesh Kumar, aged 29, before throwing him onto the tarmac, there was no doubting the danger for all aboard. They demanded the crew collect everyone’s passports, presumably to look for American passengers who were the primary targets. Neerja ensured that any American passports were hidden or thrown secretly down a rubbish chute as she and her crew collected passports.
The plane was then held for 17 hours as tensions ratcheted out of control. When the flight’s auxiliary power ran out at 9.55 am, the plane was plunged into darkness igniting the pressure cooker on board. One hijacker shot at the explosive belt of his comrade, only just missing but triggering the men to start shooting indiscriminately. Neerja and a passenger threw themselves at the emergency doors managing to open them so passengers could jump outside. It was reported that Neerja could easily have leapt from the plane at this point but she stayed to help everyone off. As she shielded three children while they got on the chute to slide to safety she was gunned down by the terrorists. She later died of her injuries. One of those children would later become the captain of another airline and owed his life to Neerja.
She was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest award for valour. The terrorist leader was sent to an FBI prison and questions remain about what happened to the other men. Her parents set up the Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust to assist women overcoming social injustice and flight personnel who act beyond the call of duty – those heroic yet disparagingly labelled ‘waitresses of the skies’.